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NFA/FAQ · National Firearms Act Frequently Asked Questions · by James O. Bardwell, Esq. Table of Content General Info On NFA Weapons • Federal Gun Control Laws • NFA Firearm Definitions • Owning Or Making An NFA Weapon • Taxpayer Privacy • Transfer and Making Tax Exemptions • The Classes of SOT Holders • Additional Regulations Of Certain Weapons • Transporting NFA Firearms • A Lost Or Stolen NFA Firearm • Repairs To NFA Weapons • Penalties For NFA Violations • Additional Info Sources • Handy ATF Phone Numbers Obtaining The Law Enforcement Certification • Other Avenues to NFA Ownership NFA Weapons and the 4th Amendment Amnesties For Unregistered NFA Weapons Machine Gun Sears And Conversion Parts DEWATs Any Other Weapons Destructive Devices Sound Suppressors (Silencers) Short Barreled Rifles © Copyright by James O. Bardwell, Esq., 1994 - 2019. Permission is given to reproduce this document or portions thereof with attribution, for non-commercial, or non-governmental use only. No claim to U.S. statutes or regulations quoted herein. Cover photo © Copyright 2018 - 2019 Zane DeGaine. Used with permission. National Association for Gun Rights P.O. Box 1776 · Loveland, CO 80539 nationalgunrights.org FOR 2 Federal Gun Control Laws Gun control at the Federal level in the USA is a 20th century creation. The first broad Federal gun control law in the USA was called the National Firearms Act, enacted in 1934. It was loosely modeled on gun control laws enacted in Great Britain after World War I. In 1938 a second law, the Federal Firearms Act was passed. Broadly speaking, the NFA created controls on certain firearms that Congress claimed were the pre- ferred tools of gangsters. The law was National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown based on Congress’ enumerated taxing with a “dealer sample” Thompson M1A1. power under the Constitution. At the time the general legal thought was that the Federal government had limited pow- ers under the Constitution, and one power it lacked was the general police power, a power that was left to the states. Therefore the NFA was modeled as a tax law, on the Federal anti-drug laws that were also premised on taxing narcotics, to create a de-facto ban. The U.S. Supreme Court had already upheld the drug laws, so the drafters of the NFA figured structuring the gun ban as a “tax” would also insulate it from a claim that banning guns was outside the enumerated powers of Congress. The Federal Firearms Act covered all firearms, and created a system of licenses to deal in firearms across state lines, and began the ban on possession of firearms by certain persons convicted of crime. In the time since 1934 of course, all pretense of the Federal government having limited, enumerated powers under the Constitution has been dropped. The narcotics laws based on the taxing power were repealed in 1970, and replaced with the bans we see today. Today’s Federal gun control laws do not seek to have any real connection to the enumerated powers the Federal government is supposedly limited to. These two laws were amended from time to time until 1968, when both laws were repealed and re-enacted, with major changes. The 1968 versions of these laws, with tweaks that have been made since then, are the core of Federal gun control laws in the USA. The 1968 law renamed the revised version of the Federal Firearms Act the Gun Control Act, and kept the name of the National Firearms Act the same. Title 2 of the 1968 law is the National Firearms Act (codified at sec. 5801 et seq.). Title 1 is the Gun Control Act, (U.S.C. sec. 921 et seq. ). These two laws overlap to an extent, with certain firearms being regulated by both laws, and all firearms being regulated by at least one of the laws. Title 1 firearms include almost any device that can discharge at least one shot by means of an explosive (including rifles, shotguns and handguns), silencers, and firearm frames or receivers. A few items are exempt; firearms made before 1899, 3 FOR and muzzle loading firearms. Most NFA weapons are also title 1 firearms. Title 2 weapons are NFA weapons. NFA weapons are also sometimes called class 3 weapons, because a class 3 SOT (see below) is needed to deal in NFA weapons. These weapons may also be further regulated by states or localities, and while these weapons can be legally owned under Federal law, some states and localities further regulate ownership or prohibit it (see below). The NFA Branch of ATF administers the taxation of the guns, and the registration of them in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR). Back to the Top ________________________________________ NFA Firearm Definitions The NFA only covers certain weapons defined as: machine guns, firearm mufflers or silencers (sometimes called sound suppressors, although that is not what the law calls them), short barreled shotguns, short barreled rifles, destructive devices and “any other weapons”. Exactly what these weapons are is defined in the law, as well as in court cases interpreting the law. A machine gun is any gun that can fire more than one shot with a single pull of the trigger, or the receiver of a machine gun, or a combination of parts for assembling a machine gun, or a part or set of parts for converting a gun into a machine gun. A gun that is called fully automatic is a machine gun. A gun that is called semi-automatic is one that will only fire one shot with each trigger pull, and is not included in this definition. A semi-automatic gun will typically automatically reload the chamber with a new cartridge each time the gun is fired, but the mechanism then stops, and the trigger has to be pulled again to fire another shot. A fully automatic gun will (so long as the trigger continues to be activated by the user) continuously load and fire until it exhausts its ammunition supply. That is the essential difference between a semi-automatic gun and a machine gun. The two types may externally appear identical, and often it is possible to have two versions of the same gun, one of which can fire automatically and one which cannot. This visual similarity feeds gun control advocates who confuse, either deliberately or out of ignorance, fully automatic firearms with semi-automatic firearms. A silencer is any device for muffling the gunshot of a portable firearm, or any part or parts exclusively designed or intended for such a device (see discussion below). A short barreled shotgun is any shotgun (which is defined as a shoulder fired, smooth bore firearm) with a barrel of less than 18 inches or an overall length of less than 26 inches, or any weapon made from a shotgun falling into the same length parameters. FOR 4 A short barreled rifle is a rifle (which is defined as a shoulder fired, rifled bore firearm that is not a machine gun) with a barrel length of less than 16 inches, or an overall length of less than 26 inches, or any weapon made from a rifle falling into the same length parameters (like a pistol made from a rifle). In measuring barrel length you do it from the closed breech to the muzzle, see 27 CFR sec. 479.11. To measure overall length do so along, ”the distance between the extreme ends of the weapon measured along a line parallel to the center line of the bore.” 27 CFR sec. 479.11. On a folding stock weapon you measure with the stock extended, provided the stock is not readily detachable, and the weapon is meant to be fired from the shoulder. A destructive device (DD) can be two basic categories of things. It can be an explosive, incendiary or poison gas weapon, like a bomb or grenade. It can also be a firearm with a bore over ½ inch, with exceptions for sporting shotguns, among other things (see discussion below). I call the second category large bore destructive devices. As a general rule only this second category is commercially available. Any other weapons (AOW’s) are a number of things; smooth bore pistols, any pistol with more than one grip, (but see below) gadget type guns (cane gun, pen gun) and shoulder fired weapons with both rifled and smooth bore barrels between 12 inches and 18 inches in length, that must be manually reloaded (see discussion below). These definitions are simplified, to see if a specific gun is a title 1 or 2 firearm one needs to refer to the specific definition under the statute(s), and possibly consult with the Technology Branch of ATF. There is also case law on the issue of whether a specific item falls into one of these categories. In addition, as a general rule, a parts kit, i.e. all of the parts to assemble an NFA firearm, whether a parts kit is specifically included in the statute or not, is usually considered to be the same as the assem- bled firearm. Back to the Top ________________________________________ Owning Or Making An NFA Weapon It is illegal for anyone to have possession of an NFA weapon that is not registered to them in the NFRTR. It is also not possible for anyone, except government entities, to register an existing NFA weapon that is not registered, except within 24 hours after one is made by a class 2 NFAmanufacturer. An individual otherwise able to own any gun under Federal law can receive and own any NFA weapon. The process starts by having the seller/transferor of that firearms submit ATFForm 4, “Application for Tax Paid Transfer and Registration of Firearm” to transfer the weapon to the buyer.

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